EP3655704A1

EP3655704A1 - An oven with door locking element

Info

Publication number: EP3655704A1
Application number: EP18737591.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yücel Ceylan; Dogan DERELI; Gürkan Tuban
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2017-07-17
Filing date: 2018-07-04
Publication date: 2020-05-27
Also published as: TR201710457A2; WO2019015959A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an oven (10) having a body (11), a cavity (12) surrounded by the body (11) and defining a cooking chamber; a door (16) hinged to said body (11) and a control means (20) controlling a cooking operation of the cavity (12). As an improvement, the subject matter oven (10) further comprises a locking element (17) for locking the door (16) in accordance with a first electrical signal provided by the control means (20), when the cooking operation started.

Description

SPECIFICATION

AN OVEN WITH DOOR LOCKING ELEMENT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to ovens having a door hinged to a body for covering a cavity of the oven in a closed position of the door and for reaching said cavity in an opened position of the door.

KNOWN STATE OF THE ART

Ovens comprise cavities defining cooking chambers surrounded by the body. In the ovens, there is an opening provided on the front sides for reaching the cavities. Said openings are covered by the doors hinged to the body in the closed position of the door and the doors are in the closed position during operation of the ovens. The hot air and steam gets out to the atmosphere when the doors are opened by the users. Since the doors can be frequently opened by the users for controlling the foodstuffs, the users expose to hot steam at every opening of the doors. This hot steam can be harmful for faces, in particular for eyes and can be painful for the users.

In the patent application numbered EP2085699 A2, the setting of a timer module of an electrical cooking appliance is locked against change by activating a safety lock function on the timer module using a control element so that specific operating cycle of the electrical cooking appliance is carried out without interruption. The electrical cooking appliance is switched-off by opening timer relay which is reactivated or closed only by activating an additional control element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to prevent opening the doors of the ovens in an unsafely manner during or after the cooking operation due to the hot air and the hot steam of the cavity. In order to reach said object, the present invention is an oven having a body, a cavity surrounded by the body and defining a cooking chamber; a door hinged to said body and a control means controlling a cooking operation of the cavity. In the invention, the oven further comprises a locking element for locking the door in accordance with a first electrical signal provided by the control means, when the cooking operation started. Thus, the door of the oven is locked by the locking element in order to prevent opening the doors in an unsafely manner by the user, when the cooking operation started in the cavity. Therefore, the users face is protected from the hot air and the hot steam of the cavity in case opening the door of the oven. Thus, painful and dangerous cases for the users like burn cases that can be occurred by the opening of the door, are prevented.

Here, the control means can be a printed circuit board (PCB) which has conductive tracks, and pads. In a probable embodiment of the invention, the cavity has an opening covered by the door when the door is in a closed position and wherein a control panel is provided on an upper side of said opening. Thus, the opening of the cavity that defines the front section of the oven, is provided. The user can easily reach to the cavity from said opening when the door is in an opened position. On the other hand, the user can easily reach to the control panel provided on the front section of the oven.

In a probable embodiment of the invention, the control panel has a frontal wall extending vertically and a lower wall provided in a horizontal form extending rearwards from said frontal wall. Thus, the frontal wall for positioning the control elements like control knobs and the lower wall for positioning the locking element, are provided.

In a probable embodiment of the invention, the lower wall has a hole, the door has a counter hole corresponding to the hole and wherein the locking element comprises a movable arm passing through said hole and said counter hole in a locking position of the movable arm. Thus, the door is locked when the arm moves in a vertical direction in order to pass through the hole and the counter hole. Furthermore, the door is unlocked when the arm moves in a reverse vertical direction in order to exit from the counter hole. In a probable embodiment of the invention, the locking element comprises an actuating element providing an actuation for moving the arm vertically. Thus, the actuation is provided for moving the arm in the vertical direction or reverse vertical direction. Here, the actuating element can be any kind of motor like a servomotor.

In a probable embodiment of the invention, at least one sensor element is provided on the door for transmitting a second electrical signal to the control means when an external opening force is applied on the door. Thus, the sensor element for providing the second electrical signal to the control means when the door is in the locked position and desired to open, is provided. Therefore, the user can open the door and reach to the cavity of the oven at any time. Here, the sensor element can be any kind of sensor positioned on the door for sensing an action of the user for opening the door. For example, the sensor can be a force sensor sensing the external force (pushing or pulling) exerted by the user to the door.

In a probable embodiment of the invention, the door has a handle and the sensor element is provided on said handle for transmitting the second electrical signal to the control means when the handle is held by a user. Thus, the handle wherein the the sensor element positioned for transmitting the second electrical signal to the control means, when the external opening force is applied on the door for opening said door, is provided.

In a probable embodiment of the invention, the control panel comprises at least one warning element occurring at least one warning in response to a third electrical signal transmitted by the control means before the door is unlocked. Thus, the user is warned for the hot air and the hot steam before the door is unlocked.

In a probable embodiment of the invention, the warning element is a visual warning element provided on the control panel and said visual warning element being a screen. Thus, the visual warning is provided to the user in order to be cautious for the hot air or steam before the door is unlocked.

Here, the visual warning can be any kind of a picture like a "steam picture" or can be a text like "please take care of the hot steam". In a probable embodiment of the invention, the warning element is an acoustic warning element provided on the control panel and said acoustic warning element being a loudspeaker. Thus, the acoustic warning is provided to the user in order to be cautious for the hot air or the hot steam before the door is unlocked.

Here, the acoustic warning can be any kind of a sound like the sound saying "please take care of the hot steam when the door is opening".

In a probable embodiment of the invention, at least one heating element is provided for heating the cavity in accordance with a signal transmitted by the control means. Thus, heating of the cavity for cooking the foodstuffs that can be located inside the cavity, is provided.

Here, the heating element can be any kind of burner for heating the cavity of the oven. In order to reach said object, the present invention a method for operating an oven having a body, a cavity surrounded by the body and defining a cooking chamber; a door hinged to said body and a control means controlling a cooking operation of the cavity. The method comprising the steps of;

- transmitting an electrical signal to a heating element by the control means for starting the cooking operation,

- providing a first electrical signal to an actuating element by the control means and actuating a locking element by said actuating element for locking the door,

- transmitting a second electrical signal to the control means by at least one sensor element when an external opening force is applied on the door,

- providing a third electrical signal to at least one warning element by the control means for occurring at least one warning,

- transmitting a further electrical signal to the actuating element by the

control means and providing a further actuation to the locking element by said actuating element for unlocking the door after the warning is completed.

Thus, the door is locked by the locking element when the cooking operation is started in the cavity in order to prevent opening the doors in an unsafely manner. Therefore, the users face is protected from the hot air and the hot steam of the cavity in case opening the door. Thus, painful and dangerous cases for the users faces like burn cases that can be occurred by the opening of the door, is prevented. Moreover, the user can open the door and reach to the cavity of the oven at any time in a safely manner.

In a probable embodiment of the invention, the sensor element provides an additional electrical signal to the control means when the door is in a closed position after an opening of the door during the cooking operation, and the control means provides the first electrical signal to the actuating element in response to the additional electrical signal for locking the door. Thus, the door is locked again by the locking element when the door is in the closed position again after an opening of the door, during the cooking operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Fig. 1 is a representative view of the subject matter oven.

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the control panel and the locking element of the door of the subject matter oven.

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of the locking element of the door of the subject matter oven.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the locking element and the door of the subject matter oven.

Fig. 5 is a schema for locking the door of the subject matter oven.

Fig. 6 is a schema for unlocking the door of the subject matter oven.

Fig. 7 is a schema of the method for operating the subject matter oven.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this detailed description, the subject matter oven (10) is explained with references to examples without forming any restrictive effect only in order to make the subject more understandable.

With reference to Fig. 1 , the subject matter domestic oven (10) comprises a body (1 1 ) and a cavity (12) surrounded by said body (1 1 ). Said cavity (12) defines a cooking chamber wherein the foodstuffs can be located for a cooking operation. The cavity (12) has an opening (not shown in figures) provided on a front side of the oven (10) for reaching the cavity (12). As shown in Fig. 1 , a door (16) is positioned on the front side of the oven (10). The door (16) covers the opening of the cavity (12), when the door (16) is in a closed position. A handle (161 ) extending horizantally, is positioned on the door (16). In a possible embodiment, a lower section of the door (16) is hinged to the body (1 1 ) and the handle (161 ) is positioned on an upper section of the door (16). The door (16) can be an opened position, when a user held and pulled the door (16) by applying an external opening force to the handle (161 ). There is a control panel (1 3) provided on an upper side of the opening. Said control panel (13) has at least one control knob (14) extending outwardly. The control knobs (14) can be turned and/or pushed by the user for selecting any function or parameter of the cooking operation of the oven (10). There is also at least one warning element (15) positioned onto the control panel (13).

With reference to Fig. 2, the control panel (13) has a frontal wall (131 ) extending vertically. In a possible embodiment the control knobs (14) and the warning element (15) are positioned on the frontal wall (131 ). There is a lower wall (132) provided in a horizontal form extending rearwards from the frontal wall (131 ). In more details, the lower wall (132) is provided in a manner facing an upper face (164) of the door (16). A locking element (17) is positioned on the lower wall (132) of the control panel (13) and located at a rear side of the frontal wall (131 ). A hole (133) is embodied on the lower wall (132) and the door (16) has a counter hole (162) corresponding to said hole (133). In more details, the counter hole (162) is embodied on the upper face (164) of the door (16) facing the lower wall (132).

With reference to Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, the locking element (17) comprises an arm (171 ) passing through the hole (133) and the counter hole (162), when the door (16) is in the closed position. The locking element (17) has an actuating element (18) providing an actuation for a movement to the arm (171 ). The arm (171 ) is moved to a first direction (a) by the actuating element (18) for passing through the hole (133) and the counter hole (162), when the door (16) is in a locked position. There is a space (163) provided on the door (16) in a manner the arm (171 ) at least partially placed inside said space (163), when the door (16) is in the locked position. Furthermore, the arm (171 ) is moved in a second direction (b) by the actuating element (18) in order to exits from the counter hole (162), when the door (16) is in an unlocked position. Here, the first direction (a) is a vertical direction for locking the door (16), the second direction (b) is a reverse vertical direction for unlocking the door (16).

With reference to Fig. 5, the subject matter oven (10) comprises a control means (20) for controlling the cooking operation of the cavity (12). At least one heating element (21 ) is provided for heating the cavity (12) in accordance with an electrical signal transmitted by said control means (20). In more details, the control means (20) transmits the electrical signal to the heating element (21 ), when the control knob (14) is pushed and/or turned by the user. The control means (20) provides a first electrical signal to the actuating element (18) for locking the door (16). The actuating element (18) provides the actuation to the locking element (17) for locking the door (16). The arm (171 ) of the locking element (17) is moved in the first direction (a), and thus the door (16) is locked.

With reference to Fig. 6, there is at least one sensor element (19) positioned on the door (16) for providing a second electrical signal to the control means (20), when the external opening force is applied to the door (16) by the user. In a possible embodiment, the sensor element (19) is provided on the handle (161 ) for transmitting the second electrical signal to the control means (20), when the handle (161 ) is held by the user. The control means (20) provides a third electrical signal to the warning element (15) for occurring at least one warning in response to the third electrical signal before the door (16) is unlocked. In a possible embodiment of the present invention, the warning element (15) is a visual warning element provided on the control panel (13) and said visual warning element being a screen. In another possible embodiment, the warning element (15) is an acoustic warning element provided on the control panel (13) and said acoustic warning element being a loudspeaker. The control means (20) provides a further electrical signal to the actuating element (18) for unlocking the door (16). The actuating element (18) provides a further actuation to the locking element (17) for unlocking the door (16). Afterwards, the arm (171 ) of the locking element (17) is moved in the second direction (b) by the actuating element (18), and thus the door (16) is unlocked. In Fig. 7, a method for operating the subject matter oven (10), is given. In a first step (30) of the method, the control means (20) transmits the electrical signal to the heating element (21 ) for starting the cooking operation of the cavity (12). In more details, the heating element (21 ) starts to heat the cavity (12) wherein the foodstuffs can be located for the cooking operation. In a second step (40), the control means (20) provides the first electrical signal to the actuating element (18) and the actuating element (18) actuates the locking element (17) for locking the door (16). In more details, the actuating element (18) receives the first electrical signal and provides the actuation for moving the arm (171 ) of the locking element (17) in the first direction (a). The arm (171 ) passes through the hole (133) and the counter hole (162), when the arm (171 ) moved in the first direction (a). Thus, the locking position of the locking element (17), is provided. In a third step (50) of the method, the sensor element (19) provides the second electrical signal to the control means (20) when the external opening force is applied on the door (16). The control means (20) receives said second electrical signal and in a fourth step (60) of the method, the control means (20) transmits the third electrical signal to the warning element (15) for occurring the warning. In more details, the control means (20) tranmits said third electrical signal to the visual warning element or acoustic warning element or both of them. The warning element (15) receives the electrical signal, and provides the warning (visual warning and/or acoustic warning) to the user. In a fifth step (70) of the method, the control means (20) transmits a further electrical signal to the actuating element (18) and the actuating element (18) provides a further actuation to the locking element (17) for unlocking the door (16) after the warning is completed. In a possible embodiment, the visual warning and/or the acoustic warning take 3-5 seconds. The actuating element (18) receives the further electrical signal and provides the further actuation for moving the arm (171 ) of the locking element (17) in the second direction (b). The arm (171 ) exits from the counter hole (162), when the arm (1 71 ) moved in the second direction (b). Thus, the unlock position of the locking element (17) for the user, is provided. Therefore, the user can open the door (16) and reach to the cavity (12). The sensor element (19) can provide an additional electrical signal to the control means (20) when the door (16) is in the closed position after an opening of the door (16) during the cooking operation, and the control means (20) provides the first electrical signal to the actuating element (18) in response to the additional electrical signal for locking the door (16) again.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

10. Oven

1 1 . Body

12. Cavity

13. Control panel

131 . Frontal wall 32. Lower wall

133. Hole

14. Control knob

15. Warning element

16. Door

161 . Handle

162. Counter hole

163. Space

164. Upper face

17. Locking element

171 . Arm

18. Actuating element

19. Sensor element

20. Control means

21 . Heating element 30. First step

40. Second step

50. Third step

60. Fourth step

70. Fifth step

a. First direction b. Second direction

Claims

1. An oven (10) having a body (1 1 ), a cavity (12) surrounded by the body (1 1 ) and defining a cooking chamber; a door (16) hinged to said body (1 1 ) and a control means (20) controlling a cooking operation of the cavity (12), characterized in that the oven (10) further comprises a locking element (17) for locking the door (16) in accordance with a first electrical signal provided by the control means (20), when the cooking operation started.

2. The oven (10) according to Claim 1 , wherein the cavity (12) has an opening covered by the door (16) when the door (16) is in a closed position, and wherein a control panel (13) is provided on an upper side of said opening.

3. The oven (10) according to Claim 2, wherein the control panel (13) has a frontal wall (131 ) extending vertically and a lower wall (132) provided in a horizontal form extending rearwards from said frontal wall (131 ).

4. The oven (10) according to Claim 3, wherein the lower wall (132) has a hole

(133), the door (16) has a counter hole (162) corresponding to the hole (133) and wherein the locking element (17) comprises a movable arm (171 ) passing through said hole (133) and said counter hole (162) in a locking position of the movable arm (171 ).

5. The oven (10) according to Claim 4, wherein the locking element (17) comprises an actuating element (18) providing an actuation for moving the arm (171 ) vertically.

6. The oven (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one sensor element (19) is provided on the door (16) for transmitting a second electrical signal to the control means (20) when an external opening force is applied on the door (16).

7. The oven (10) according to Claim 6, wherein the door (16) has a handle (161 ) and the sensor element (19) is provided on said handle (161 ) for transmitting the second electrical signal to the control means (20) when the handle (161 ) is held by a user.

8. The oven (10) according to Claim 6 or 7, wherein the control panel (13) comprises at least one warning element (15) occurring at least one warning in response to a third electrical signal transmitted by the control means (20) before the door (16) is unlocked.

9. The oven (10) according to Claim 8, wherein the warning element (15) is a visual warning element provided on the control panel (13) and said visual warning element being a screen.

10. The oven (10) according to Claim 8, wherein the warning element (15) is an acoustic warning element provided on the control panel (13) and said acoustic warning element being a loudspeaker.

11. The oven (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one heating element (21 ) is provided for heating the cavity (12) in accordance with an electrical signal transmitted by the control means (20).

12. A method for operating an oven (10) having a body (1 1 ), a cavity (12) surrounded by the body (1 1 ) and defining a cooking chamber; a door (16) hinged to said body (1 1 ) and a control means (20) controlling a cooking operation of the cavity (12), characterized in that said method comprising the steps of;

- transmitting an electrical signal to a heating element (21 ) by the control means (20) for starting the cooking operation, (30)

- providing a first electrical signal to an actuating element (18) by the control means (20) and actuating a locking element (17) by said actuating element (18) for locking the door (16), (40)

- transmitting a second electrical signal to the control means (20) by at least one sensor element (19) when an external opening force is applied on the door (16), (50)

- providing a third electrical signal to at least one warning element (15) by the control means (20) for occurring at least one warning, (60) - transmitting a further electrical signal to the actuating element (18) by the control means (20) and providing a further actuation to the locking element (17) by said actuating element (18) for unlocking the door (16) after the warning is completed. (70)

13. The method according to Claim 12, wherein the sensor element (19) provides an additional electrical signal to the control means (20) when the door (16) is in a closed position after an opening of the door (16) during the cooking operation, and the control means (20) provides the first electrical signal to the actuating element (18) in response to the additional electrical signal for locking the door (16).